Bulawayo Town Clerk gets one-year extension

Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube has secured a one-year contract extension to November 2026 as the city waits for legal clarification on whether a new Statutory Instrument (SI) raising Zimbabwe's retirement age to 70 applies to fixed-term contracts for senior council executives.

Dube's contract had been set to expire at the end of this month, following a two-year extension granted in October 2023. However, he recently asked councillors to rescind their earlier decision and implement the government's new retirement policy, which would allow him to serve until 2030.

Council has opted for a temporary compromise while the Attorney General's Office provides guidance.

According to a council report, the extension follows a meeting between Mayor David Coltart and Dube on 27 October 2025.

"After discussion, it was resolved that the Town Clerk's existing contract, which terminates on 30 November 2025, shall be extended for one year to 30 November 2026 on existing conditions," the report reads.

Bulawayo City Council will meanwhile seek a legal opinion from the Attorney General's Civil Division, through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, on the applicability of SI 197/2024 — which raised the retirement age from 65 to 70 — to fixed-term contracts.

Dube, who took over as Town Clerk on 1 October 2016 after serving in the same role in Victoria Falls, has had his contract renewal process marred by controversy in recent months.

His push for a five-year extension triggered internal disputes after he bypassed standard council procedures by drafting his own report instead of lodging it through the Human Capital Director, Makhosi Tshalebwa. He also declined to recuse himself from the meeting discussing his contract, breaching conflict-of-interest protocols.

A confidential council report reveals Dube justified his actions by claiming he was forced to circumvent the General Purposes Committee — the body tasked with handling human resources matters — because it had twice failed to meet due to lack of quorum.

"I was left with no choice but to bring my report straight to council," he wrote. "The Special General Purposes Committee meeting has twice failed to sit… because of a lack of quorum. I am now afraid that my matter may end up out of time because we are now two months from the expiry of my contract."

In pressing for a five-year extension, Dube cited council's adoption of a ministerial circular earlier this year that raised the retirement age to 70. He argued that the policy shift superseded previous restrictions on his continued employment.

Council had initially extended his contract by two years in February 2024, with a condition that his age be reviewed in line with the then-retirement age of 65 — before the new policy came into effect.

The new SI has led to confusion within several local authorities over whether executives on fixed-term contracts can automatically benefit from the increased retirement age.

The Attorney General's interpretation is expected to determine whether Dube's request for an extension to 2030 — and similar cases nationwide — will be legally permissible.

For now, Dube continues in his role until November 2026, with the future of his long-running tenure hinging on the impending legal opinion.